Firefighters need to provide help

Malinda Baker is lucky to be alive, no thanks to the absurd Kafkaesque inaction of the Springfield Fire Department, whose firefighters milled around Baker and her son for upwards of half an hour while she labored to draw breath. ("Ambulance delay alarms family," Dec. 12)

The turf war between Cox's and Mercy's "competing ambulance services" certainly precipitated the problem, but we must all remember that Springfield firefighters were on the scene, quaking in their boots lest Baker die while they allowed state regulations to hamstring them from doing what needed to be done: get Baker to the hospital across the street.

It boils down to money: The firefighters were ready to let Baker die on their watch rather than risk being sued for acting compassionately, promptly and urgently in exigent circumstances.